A Great Song for the Day After Christmas - "All I Want for Christmas Is You" by Vince Vance and the Valiants

I don’t know about you, but December 26 is about sleeping late, unless you have kids like I do who get you up at an ungodly hour in order to get to the new toys that they haven’t played with yet. So as my kids sat here and played, I turned on the radio and what to my wondering mind would appear, but the incessant playing of Christmas music on my favorite FM stations was now gone. I could not find a Christmas song anywhere on the dial.

To remedy the day after Christmas blues and a musical vacuum of sorts, I sat down and finally checked out a song I had been hearing all December long: “All I Want for Christmas is You.” This is not the song made famous by Mariah Carey (co-written with Walter Afanasieff), but rather a completely different one performed by Vince Vance and the Valiants. Written by Troy Powers and Andy Stone, the song was recorded in 1989 and the lead vocal is rendered by Lisa Layne. Her distinctive delivery is what attracted me to the song, and the music has a hint of country twang that makes it stand out on a New York radio station.

When I sought out the video, I saw for the first time what the singer looked like. A beautiful girl who looks like a model, she seemed to be lip-synching, but then again that’s what most everyone does in videos, especially ones from the 80s. However, I was not satisfied and did some research. It turns out that the girl in the video in not Ms. Layne, but Lori Nunn, a former Miss Forth Worth. She certainly looks great in the video, almost incongruously because the storyline shows her pining for Mr. Vance, with his big hair and all his weird choices of clothing.

It is a strange video to say the least, but the music and vocals are what matter most here.
Take a moment to listen to this great song. If you are feeling a little down with the after the holiday blues, I wager that this tune will lift your spirits almost as high as Mr. Vance’s hair. Enjoy!

About Me

Victor Lana is a native New Yorker who has published numerous stories in literary magazines and online, including such places as HAWAII REVIEW, NEW WORKS REVIEW, IN POSSE REVIEW, THE MOONWORT REVIEW, and READER'S BREAK. His novels A DEATH IN PRAGUE (2002) and MOVE (2003) are available at Barnes and Noble, Borders.com, Amazon.com, and other places. He is sending out proposals for his new book, THE SAVAGE QUIET SEPTEMBER SUN (a collection of 9/11 stories), at this time.